Cougars run past Georgia Tech 38-20

PROVO, Utah - Taysom Hill, Jamaal Williams and Algernon Brown each scored rushing touchdowns to lead the Cougars past Georgia Tech's rushing attack 38-20 Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

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BYU (4-2) opened the scoring in the first quarter as Taysom Hill hit Cody Hoffman down the middle of the field for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Hoffman made the grab over his shoulder, while going down to his knees.

The catch tied Hoffman for second in career touchdown receptions at BYU. Right before half, Hoffman moved into a tie with All-American Dennis Pitta for the career lead in receptions at BYU with 221.

"It’s good to have him back as well with some practices and some consistency under his belt," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "When you have Mitch (Mathews) playing the way he can play and Cody playing the way he can, and you start adding J.D. Falslev and Brett Thompson and Ross (Apo), eventually we could be pretty dynamic. I think you saw that especially in the first half."

Georgia Tech (3-3, 2-2 ACC) answered back on its next possession, taking six plays to go 70 yards. Yellow Jacket quarterback Vad Lee scored from the 2-yard line. Jamaal Williams and the Cougars took back the lead on a two-yard rush of their own with 5:47 left in the first quarter. Williams finished the game with 86 yards on 17 carries and another 11 yards on two receptions.

The teams traded field goals, before Taysom Hill led an eight-play, 55-yard drive to add to the lead. Hill dove in from the 1-yard line for his first rushing touchdown of the game. Hill entered halftime having thrown for 226 yards on 16-of-20 passing, plus another 72 yards rushing. Hill finished 19-of-27 for 244 yards and the one touchdown. He ran for 65 yards on 15 carries and the one rushing touchdown. 

In the fourth quarter, Alani Fua put points on the board for the Cougars as he returned an interception 51 yards to make it 30-13. It was his second career interception and the second straight game where BYU returned an interception for a touchdown.

BYU added to its lead with a 15-yard touchdown run by Algernon Brown with 3:11 left in the game. It was his first career touchdown.

With 53 seconds left in the game, Georgia Tech's backup quarterback Justin Thomas found Deon Hill for a five-yard touchdown reception for the Yellow Jackets' only points in the second half.

The BYU defense kept Georgia Tech out of the end zone for 51 minutes between touchdowns. Austen Jorgensen, Blake Morgan and Uani ' Unga each finished in double digits in tackles, while Kyle Van Noy recorded six tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. In Spencer Hadley's return from a three-game suspension, he recorded three tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

It was the 12th straight opponent BYU held to 21 points or less.

"I think we played well," Mendenhall said. "I gauge it a lot by points. With the exception of the last touchdown, 38-13 looked pretty good. I thought we had a really nice plan and a good team."

Next up, the Cougars hit the road, leaving Utah for the first time since August as they travel to Houston Oct. 19 at 2:30 p.m. CDT.